Lost Explodes Into Its Third Season

This Wednesday ABC's mysterious suspense-addled island goes into meltdown as "Lost" returns for its Season Three debut. Last season left Jack, Sawyer, Kate and company in the hands of the indefinable Others, with Locke, Eko, and Desmond in the middle of magnetic crisis in the hatch as the button went unpushed and the consequences of a year-long conflict and curiosity were ready to combust. Then, somehow, somewhere, the woman of Desmond's lost dreams seems to get a beat on their location through whatever blast or surge of energy the activity has created. We don't know anything for sure, except that after Michael's betrayal, he took his son on an escape path and abandoned all his fellow castaways to their fate.

Much speculation has been flying about the upcoming season since that finale. Without giving any specifics away, Matthew Fox (Jack) offered some vague clues to USA Today about what fans can expect in the premiere and the show's Junior year; "I honestly think it's going to be the best year yet. I can tell by the way the producers are talking about the year ahead that the show's going to do a lot of things it hasn't done. And philosophically, it's going to touch on some cool issues." Fox also spoke a little about his character at season's start as his mental state will apparently fray; "Jack is somebody who is obsessed about his need to control situations, and suddenly somebody else is pushing the buttons."

In the premiere episode, "A Tale of Two cities," the captured learn more about the Others and the threat to them, the three in the hatch will presumably have containment issues and concerns. The second episode "Further Instructions" will also see a special return appearance of the first big casualty from Season One, Locke's loyal disciple, Boone (Ian Somerhalder). "Lost" returns Wednesday, October 4th at 9PM ET on ABC.